News about Faculty & Staff

Alexanders Donate Model T to Automotive Restoration Program

Aubrey Alexander (front row, left) and brother Adam (front row, right) deliver a 1926 Ford Model T to students and faculty outside College Avenue Labs, home to Penn College’s automotive restoration and collision repair majors.

A 1926 Ford Model T, traded to Alexander Nissan in 2013 by its Picture Rocks owner, has been passed on to Pennsylvania College of Technology students for use in a variety of automotive labs.

Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships donated the historic vehicle that was recently offloaded onto main campus, accompanied by brothers Adam and Aubrey Alexander.

“We appreciate this gift to our automotive restoration program from the Alexanders. In addition to value for our students in their curricular work, it serves as a way to engage prospective students in the restoration major,” said Elizabeth A. Biddle, the college’s director of corporate relations. “Our goal is to foster the interest in antique cars and the restoration industry among young people.”

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Penn College Welcomes New Employees

PCToday continues its regular feature – welcoming new full-time and regular part-time Pennsylvania College of Technology employees, as reported by the Human Resources Office.

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This Week’s Makerspace Topic: 3D Printing, Scanning

3D printing and scaningWeekly trainings at The Dr. Welch Workshop: A Makerspace at Penn College continue Thursday with instruction on use of a 3D printer and scanner. The demonstrations will be from 5-6 p.m. in Room 104 of the Carl Building Technologies Center. No reservations are required for the sessions, which run through Nov. 15 (with the exception of Oct. 18).
Next week: polystyrene models

Director Appointed for Penn College Physician Assistant Program

Joshua A. Bower

Joshua A. Bower has been named director of the physician assistant program at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Bower is a certified physician assistant, licensed to practice in Pennsylvania. His primary focus is in ophthalmology. Prior to joining the Penn College staff in August, he was a physician assistant for six years at the Eye Center of Central PA.

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Civil-Rights Documentary to Launch ‘Constitution Week’

"Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot"Constitution Week kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Monday with a showing of a civil-rights documentary in Penn College’s Bush Campus Center. “Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot,” relating the nonviolent March 1965 battle to win voting rights for African-Americans, will be shown in Penn’s Inn. The 40-minute documentary tells of a courageous group of students and teachers who marched 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, achieving one of the most significant victories of its era. The screening will be preceded by a brief overview of the civil-rights timeline from 1868 to 1965 and followed by small group discussions facilitated by faculty members from the School of Sciences, Humanities & Visual Communications: Katrina A. Sinclair, assistant professor of humanities; John F. Chappo, assistant professor of history/history of technology; and Craig A. Miller, assistant professor of history/political science. The full Constitution Week schedule, which includes daily opportunities for voter registration at convenient campus locations, is available here: Constitution Week 2018

Child’s Dream Matches Penn College’s Mission

A school assignment required 9-year-old Trevin Allen to write about his dream. Rather than being a famous athlete, musician or movie star, the youngster expressed a desire to work as a computer designer in the plastics industry for SEKISUI SPI, which employs his father, Lucas L., a 2001 Penn College graduate in building construction technology. Trevin’s “essay” sparked a visit to main campus, where he experienced CAD, the new makerspace and various plastics labs. Trevin’s wish for applied technology education – offered by the likes of Penn College – matches the needs of the workforce, which is grappling with a shortage of skilled professionals. Many Penn College students, especially plastics majors, have jobs lined up well before graduation. The college has a 96 percent graduate placement rate. Trevin’s word to describe his visit? “Cool!”

Seasoned Administrator Named to Dean Position at Penn College

Randy J. Zangara

Pennsylvania College of Technology has named Randy J. Zangara dean of college transitions and first year initiatives.

As dean, Zangara is responsible for coordinating and aligning first-year programs and services and the development of a collegewide retention plan. He also oversees the Penn College NOW dual enrollment program; K-12 outreach; new student testing, advising and scheduling; and recruitment and retention of identified populations, including veteran students. Additionally, he oversees all aspects of international programming at the college.

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Memorial Blood Drive Among Donor-Recruitment Successes

Mindy J. Colony, first-shift custodian, and Charles J. Stopper, carpenter/maintenance worker, pay valuable tribute to their late friend and GS co-worker during a blood drive in his honor. (Photo by Carl L. Shaner)

Donors were in the spotlight at two recent Bush Campus Center events: a Sept. 5-6 blood drive in memory of Patrick M. Breen, a longtime General Services employee who died June 25 at the age of 58, and a Sept. 5 “Be the Match” effort to find compatible volunteers for bone-marrow donations or cord-blood transfusions.

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Local Walkers Part of National Movement to Fight Suicide

Walkers, many of them clad in Wildcat blue, fill the Penn College mall during 2017’s Ouf of the Darkness event. (Photo by Rachel A. Eirmann, student photographer)

Hundreds of people from throughout Williamsport are anticipated to take part in the 10th annual Greater Lycoming Out of the Darkness Community Walk hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Central Pennsylvania chapter and Pennsylvania College of Technology.

The event will be at Penn College on Saturday, Sept. 15, with registration starting at 4 p.m. and the 90-minute walk at 5.

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Newscast Features Students’ Work on Veterans Memorial

Papa tells the story in front of a group of Penn College students who just completed their work for the morning.

Luse displays plans for the project for WNEP photographer Tom Durant.

WNEP-TV reporter Kristina Papa spent Friday morning with a group of Penn College students whose class project honors the ultimate sacrifice. Approximately 25 masonry, site preparation and concrete students are working three days a week in helping to construct a wall of monuments at Veterans Memorial Park in Williamsport. The memorial will honor those who served in wars prior to World War I. Papa’s story includes interviews with building construction technology students Ian R. Myers, of Morrisdale, and Kurtis J. Klodnicki, of Danville, as well as instructors Harry W. Hintz and Glenn R. Luse.
Photos by Tom Speicher, writer/video editor

‘When a Friend Asks for Help …’

In photos posted to social media by an Antioch Baptist Church parishioner, Penn College Police Officer Jeffrey E. Kriner assists in maneuvering a larger-than-thought refrigerator through a doorway and into the kitchen.

Penn College Police Officer Jeffrey E. Kriner was a neighborhood hero to a local church on Wednesday, answering an online call for help with goodwill and no shortage of muscle. “A buddy of mine posted that his church got a new refrigerator and needed a hand,” said Kriner, who obtained his lieutenant’s go-ahead to assist while on break. “So I went there, told the pastor, ‘I’m here to help,’ and proceeded to push it into the church.” It was just another day for the officer, who praised the college for allowing him to “help there while working here,” but his service to the community was quickly met with gratitude. “Big props to Penn College policeman,” read one post from a member of the High Street congregation. “We need more cops like this. Thank you so much!” Nice words, certainly, but Kriner’s heart is far larger than his ego. “When a friend asks for help,” he quite simply said, “that’s what you do.”

Service Pending for Former Member of Construction Faculty

Robert J. HutchinsonA memorial service is planned for Robert J. Hutchinson, a former instructor in Williamsport Area Community College’s building construction department, who died Saturday, Sept. 1, at the age of 80. The Williamsport Technical Institute alumnus, shown in a photo from the 1975 Montage yearbook, taught carpentry and masonry at Penn College’s immediate predecessor institution. The service will be announced by the Crouse Funeral Home, 133 E. Third St., which has posted a full obituary to its website.

Former Penn College Administrator Named Interim President

Cathryn AddyCathryn Addy, founding director of the college’s North Campus in Wellsboro, has been named interim president of NHTI in Concord, New Hampshire. Addy was hired for the Wellsboro position in March 1983, shortly after Williamsport Area Community College (forerunner to Penn College) began offering practical nursing classes at the Tioga County site. The NHTI appointment is for the duration of the academic year, Sept. 10 through May, while the Community College System of New Hampshire conducts a search for a successor.  Addy is president emeritus of Tunxis Community College in Farmington, Connecticut, having led that institution from 1993 until her retirement in July 2017. She has also served as president of Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts; as academic dean at the Art Institute of Philadelphia; as dean of student services and counselor at Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Wyoming; and as an English professor at Auburn (New York) Community College.

Penn College Welcomes New Employees

PCToday continues its regular feature – welcoming new full-time and regular part-time Pennsylvania College of Technology employees, as reported by the Human Resources Office.

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Finding – and Beautifying – Common Ground

Among the Wildcat student-athletes aiding the cause are (from left) Kaylee N. Burk, of Hermitage, an engineering design technology major and member of the archery team; and, from the women's cross-country squad, Rosey Yanira Pichiya Thomas, Port Allegany, pre-nursing, and Kathryn A. Plankenhorn, Montoursville, physician assistant studies.

A cross-section of the Penn College community – including student-athletes, Circle K members, alumni and neighbors – collected 28 bags of recylables and 20 bags of trash during a cleanup on Saturday. In alliance with the Heart of Williamsport, the Susquehanna Greenway Partnership, and the college’s Diversity & Community Engagement office, 120 participants fanned out to residential areas and to Elm and Memorial parks for a hands-on display of civic pride.  Fittingly, as the volunteers walked a total of 438,082 steps, the event committee shared with them a list of outdoor recreational sites within reasonable access from campus.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology is a special mission affiliate of The Pennsylvania State University